Sometime later...
Levi walked through the central city inside the World Tree, heading towards the conference private zone... However, his latest appearance had drawn attention from most citizens and staff who were familiar with him.
"Captain Levi! Congratulations on your evolution!"
"Your new hair color really suits you."
"Keep up the hard work, Captain! Our prayers and support are always behind you!"
Levi kept nodding in their direction in appreciation, showing a serene smile... whether it were children or adults... citizens or staff... the majority kept congratulating him on the way with genuine looks of affection and acknowledgement.
Levi could see it in their hearts... the love of one human to another, one earthling to another, supporting each other in their own ways for a unified goal.
The reclamation of their home planet.
He might be on the front lines, but he knew... that the backbone of civilization rested on the shoulders of these people. Just like his late father, who invented the illuminating night stripes.
Soon, Levi arrived at the private conference zone... the moment he stepped inside, he met Tyrese and his teammates chilling in the spacious lounge.
They were sitting at a table with some food and drinks on top... Levi didn’t mean it, but his sharp hearing made him pick up on their conversation.
"I heard rumors that Dominic plans on giving each team a mission to carry for the sake of deciding who will be participating in the upcoming Faction War." Mira shared with a solemn tone, "I know we have lost most of our main raiders in the last expedition, but we must participate to show everyone that the American team still has what it takes to win the Campaign."
"I agree... we must join the Faction Wars and win it... Otherwise, our squad’s name will be nothing more than a meme." Tyrese nodded while exhaling a cloud of smoke from a joint that was half-smoked.
"It will be hard though..." Mira frowned, "Heliodor’s Raiders have just gone through a collective perfect evolution besides their captain... they were already powerful, and now, it’s going to be difficult to snatch the victory from their ha..."
Suddenly, she swallowed the rest of her sentence after noticing Levi walking in the direction of the dorms. Her lips parted in daze as she stared at his ethereal green hair color, switching from white to green after bathing in aurora and moonlight rays.
When Tyrese and the rest noticed her change of expression, everyone looked in the same direction... the moment they spotted Levi, he turned his head toward them and waved with a greeting smile. Then, he continued on his way, disappearing behind the metallic sliding door.
After he was gone, they turned to each other... their eyes showed a tint of helplessness, like they had already accepted their fate.
Tyrese chuckled to himself and lit up another joint... then, he uttered with a shake of his head, "Well, the good news is that we are going to win the Faction Wars... the bad news, I doubt we will come first."
Tyrese wasn’t a defeatist at heart... he was forged in the slums of his region and reached this level of success because of his grit and talents.
However, even he... had to accept that their chances of coming first in the Faction Wars had dropped near zero the moment he realized that Levi had gone through another Perfect Evolution.
In his eyes, he was already a monster before he even reached Warden Rank. If only they knew that Levi had just evolved to Pathfinder rank... and with a mere single seed!
"Well... at least we can take solace in the fact that Yanhuan is about to get his ass handed to him again." Mira joked, "I heard he was called back by his father to help him get stronger... they sure are desperate to reclaim their number one spot for their spoiled child."
"Heh, I will cheer to that." Tyrese laughed while filling another glass to the brim with straight toxic alcohol.
Cling!
’Truly, no one likes Yanhuan around here.’
As Levi walked away, he couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement at the sound of their toast... then, he continued on until he reached his dorm room.
However, the moment he got close to it, he was surprised to see his brother and Jasmine hanging around his room... they tried to hide it, but their expressions showed marks of concern.
But it didn’t last for long... the moment they saw him walking in their direction, their eyes beamed in delight and relief.
"Big bro!"
’Levi...’
Just as Arthur wanted to rush to Levi and give him a big hug after surviving that hellish torture that he wished upon no one, he felt a breeze past him... and then, he was left speechless to see Jasmine already hugging Levi tightly, catching even his big brother by surprise.
Usually, Levi hated when people invaded his space like this. But, as he gazed at Jasmine, who had her head snuggled against his chest, he felt comfort, not rejection.
Alas... the hug lasted for less than two seconds as Jasmine swiftly backed off and lowered her head in embarrassment, like she couldn’t believe that she had just done that.
’Not cool, Jas! I know he is yours, but come on!’ Arthur came running with an annoyed look and said outright, ’Is this how it feels to have your bro stolen by a girl?’
’I...I... sorry!’
No hesitation, Jasmine gave him a deathly glare with a red tint across her cheek. Then, she went inside her room, closing the door hard behind her.
"What’s up with her?"
Arthur scratched his head in confusion, but then he shrugged and gave Levi a big hug, grinning from ear to ear.
"If you don’t want Jasmine to portal you inside a frozen lake during your sleep, you better stop putting her on the spot like that." Levi sighed helplessly, knowing that his brother was too upfront with his thoughts.
Imagining it happening to him, Arthur felt a chill course down his spine... he realized that he was teasing the wrong, wrong person.
Arthur soon ignored what happened and walked with Levi to his room... Levi wanted to check on Jasmine, but he wasn’t as dense as his brother.
He could tell that Jasmine had feelings for him, just like how he felt differently about her compared to other girls... After getting embarrassed like this, the best thing to do was to let her be alone and forget that it ever happened.
As for going ahead and acknowledging her feelings? Levi was yet to be comfortable with the notion of being in a relationship with anyone... on an intimate level.
At least, not now... not when everything felt like it was about to collapse at any moment. He could tell that Jasmine must feel the same as him... but she allowed her emotions to carry her away after what went down in his territory.
Knowing that she was spying on them with her X-Ray vision, Levi showed a gentle smile in her room’s direction and then stepped inside his room with his brother.
As expected... Jasmine was indeed spying on them from underneath the bedsheets, covering herself into a sushi roll.
When she saw his smile, she couldn’t help but feel her heartbeat increase again.
’What’s happening to me... ahhhhhh, I feel so ashamed.’ Jasmine kept tweaking inside the sheets, but her heartbeat refused to slow down.
In the end, she stopped and looked at his door with a single thought in her mind. ’Am I in love with him?’
’Give me a break...’
Hearing her thoughts, N’ibby rolled her eyes and acted deaf... having no plans to deal with this at the moment.
She knew that they were still teens and such emotions were at their highest level... whether they pass on their own or they lead to something, she had no intentions of getting herself involved in her drama.
’I am too old for this...’
...
Meanwhile, Levi didn’t tell Arthur right away about what happened after they left... he knew he had to ask him to turn off the Neuralink device again, and he didn’t want to make it a habit lest it raised alarms back home in the department responsible for monitoring the devices’ data.
Instead, he told him to sit still and enter his own spiritual leywell. Then he placed a finger on his forehead... the next thing Arthur saw was Levi appearing inside his own spiritual leywell!
"Woaa... that’s a bit creepy." Arthur raised a brow, "Is it that easy for you?"
"Yep... my spiritual prowess at the moment is too high for your subconscious barrier to do anything against it."
Levi nodded as he gazed at Arthur’s Shadowlife Tree... compared to the loftiness and grandeur of his own ancestral trees, the Shadowlife Tree felt like a cheap copy... a golden tree with a shadowy, deathly reflection underneath the waters.
Its appearance was mystical, and yet... Levi still felt like there was a chasm between it and the Ancestral Trees.
But... no more. At least, for his brother.
"I told you I had a gift for you when I finished my evolution." Levi called with a faint smile, "Elder, the floor is yours."